Kids not old enough to watch the very adult Tales From The Crypt could always turn on Nickelodeon on Saturday nights and tune in to Are You Afraid Of The Dark. Instead of a Crypt Keeper there was the Midnight Society, a group of teens who would gather in the woods, sit around a fire and tell a scary story that would comprise the episode. Every fan of the show wanted to be a member of the Midnight Society and Are You Afraid Of The Dark? perfectly captured the spirit of gathering with friends and telling scary stories. The show even boasted early appearances of now-famous actors like Ryan Gosling, Jay Baruchel, and Hayden Christensen. The stories were often morality tales and usually concluded with a happy ending. While many of them actually delivered a few good scares, some of the stories didnt quite deliver the fear factor as well as the opening credits did. Every horror anthology show has been guilty of this, so Are You Afraid Of The Dark? is by no means an exception. Teenagers on television are depicted a lot differently in this day and age. Theyre no longer just kids who worry obsessively about things like being the new kid in school or falling behind on too much homework. They have very real problems, very adult problems, and they deal with them on a daily basis. Its just the type of material needed for a horror anthology for teens. A new Are You Afraid Of The Dark? could succeed in delivering consistent scares where the original failed.
